Navigational sounding apparatus.



D. BALLAUF, DECD.

A. w. c. wuRnEMAN, ADMINISTRATOR.

NAVIGATIONAL SOUNDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AuG.3I, 1911. IIENEWED IuIIE 28.1915.

1,153,885., Patnted Sept. 21,1915.

LULUMBM PLANGGRAPH C0., WASHINGTON, D. c.

drawing,

Nairn DANIEL BALLAUF, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA; .ADOLPH W. C. WURDEMAN .DIi/IINISVTRAIORy 0F SAID DANIEL BALLAUF, DECEASED.

NAVIGATIONAL SOUNDING APPARATUS.

Specicaticn of Letters Patent.

)Patented Sept. 21, 1915.

Application filed August 31, 1911, Serial No. 646,957. Renewed Tune 28, 1915. Serial No. 36,917.

To all @0.7mm t may concern.' f

Be it known that I, DANiEL BALLAUT, a citizen of the United States, residing at VVa-shington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful 1mprovements in Navigational Sounding Apparatus, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to machines for paying out and drawing in the sounding line or wire which is used in navigational sounding. In machines of this kind as now used there is a drum or reel upon which the sounding wire is wound, hand cranks for turning the reel to wind the wire up, and i devices for controlling the rotation of the reel when paying the wire out.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a machine of thischaracter having an improved means for controlling the pay. ing out of the wire.. v

1n the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved machine. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section, the lower or pedestal part of the machine being shown in elevation. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on line 3 3 in Fig. 2. Fig. et is a vertical section taken on line 4 4 in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is an inside view of one Vof the hand cranks detached from the machine.

Referring in Ydetail to the construction shown, 1 is a pedestal adapted to be screwed or bolted to the deck of a ship or vessel. Upon this pedestal is arranged a frame or casing 2 which is cylindrical in its general-y outline and which incloses most of the work` ing parts of the machine. The casing 2 is formed with bearings 2a, 2a in which are mounted a shaft 3.. A winding drum or reel 4 is mounted fast onthis shaft so as to turn with it.

5 is a sounding wire secured at one end to the reel, and can be wound thereon or paid out therefrom by causing or permitting the reel to turn in one direction or the other.

All of the details are not shown in the it being understood that suitable openings can be provided in the casing for the cable, their location depending upon the position in which the apparatus is mounted.

The shaft 3 projects at each end beyond the adjacent supporting bearing, and on each of the projecting ends is mounted a" hand crank 6. This crank is secured in p0- sition by a washer 7 and cotter pin 8. rIhese securing means, however, serve merely to prevent the crank from moving axially on the shaft, the crank being sleeved on the shaft so that the latter can turn freely in it. The object of this is to permit the cranks to hang idly when the reel is turning to pay out the sounding wire.

When the reel is to be turned to draw in the wire, the cranks must be made fast to the shaft and for this purpose I provide each crank with the following connecting devices. On the inner side of the crank is formed a hollow-enlargement 9 in which is slidably mounted a rod or bolt 10. A spring 11 is interposed between the outer end of the bolt and the outer end of the enlargement 9, and this spring tends to force the bolt inward toward the shaft. The latter is formed with a transverse aperture 12 in line with the bolt and adapted to receive it when forced inward by the spring.

13 is a pin which is carried by the bolt and extends outward through a longitudinal slot 14 in the enlargement 9. rThis slot at its outer end is formed with a lateral eXtension .14a which is adapted to receive the pin 13. By forcing the pin 13 outward and turning it into the slot extension 14a, the bolt will be retained in inoperative position so that the crank will be disconnected from the shaft so far as rotational movement of the latter is concerned. When it is desired to connect the crank with the shaft it is only necessary to force the pin out of the slot extension 14a, whereupon the spring 11 will force the bolt inward into the aperture 12 of the shaft. On the upper side of the casing 2 I provide means for controlling the rotation of the reel while paying out the sounding wire.

Y 15 is an upward extension of the casing 2 which is preferably rectangular in horizontal section. Slidably mounted within this extension is a brake block 16. At either side` the brake block carries brake shoes 17 of suitable material, preferably a suitable hard wood. These brake shoes are shaped to lit the cylindrical out-turned rim 11a of thev drum. The central part of the brake block 16 is formed with a threaded aperture 16a to receive a screw 17 This screw is rotatably mounted in the cover-plate 18 of the casing extension 15, the screw being formed with a collar 17a which abuts the under side of the cover-plate and having a hand wheel 19 secured to its upper end. Thus mounted the screw is free to be turned by the hand wheel 19, but is held against endwis'e movement. As the brake block 16 is held against rotation by the walls ofthe casing extension 15, it is clear that the brake shoes can be raised and lowered by rotation of the hand wheel. When the wheel is turned in one direction the brake `shoes are forced downwardagainst the out-turned rims of the winding drum Vand when it is turned in the other direction the brake shoes are' lifted away from the drum.

I prefer to make the screw 17 fit rather loosely in the brake block so that the screw will not be subjected to any lateral stresses when the brake is forced against the turning drum, it being clear that a loose fit between the screw and the brake block will permit the latter to be pressed against the wall of the casing extension 15 so that the latter sustains all of the stress in a tangential or circumferential direction. It will be observed that the loose fit between the screw 1,7 and the block-enables the pressure i of the screw to be evenly divided between the two brake shoes. I prefer to make the pitch of the threads of the screw 17 `great enough so that a comparatively slight rotation of the hand wheel 19 will effect the ordinary movements of the brake. f

2O is a worm gear secured to the shaft 3 vand this worm drives a suitable train of gearing to actuate a registering mechanism 21. This registering mechanism in itself forms no part of my invention and need not be described in detail.

In the use of the machine, when it is desired to make a sounding, the wire with the sounding lead, or other suitable sounding device, attached is paid out to the desired extent.' Whilevdoing this the reel or drum turns rapidly and it is desirable to prevent the swinging of the cranks. The locking bolts 10 of the cranks are, therefore, withdrawn from the shaft and the cranks hangV idly while the drum turns. The rate of ro-Y tation of the drum is readily controlled by means of the brake device. By a slight turn of the hand wheel 19 the operator can vary.

the pressure of the brake on the drum and control the rotation of the latter with great nic'ety. tremely rsmooth and uniform becauseit is guided and sustained by the rigid casing wall,`the screw which operates the brake be-V ing free, as previously explained, from the tangential or circumferential stresses incident to the rotation of the drum. TWhen it is desired to wind the wire in again, the hand cranks are secured-to the shaft in the The action of the brake is ex-` on radial lines directly toward and from the Y axis; and the single threaded rod loosely connected to the nutlelement of the brake bar is capable of giving either a delicately graduated or a quick sudden and powerful grip on the reel at any instant, the clamping action being effected onradial ,lines between v the brake barl and the axis without tendency to laterally strain or distort the reel.

IVhat I claim is:

1. In a navigational sounding'apparatus, the combination of a frame, a cable reel mounted therein having a cable groove and relatively widely extended peripheral friction surfacesat the sides of the groove, a brake block extending across the cable groove and having shoes arranged to respectively engage the said peripheral friction surfaces, va radially positioned rotatable threaded rod engaging an vabutment on the frame and having a loose threaded engage-Y ment with the block, and radially arranged stationary guides for Vthe brake block positioned at the sides and ends thereof to hold it against circumferential or. axial movement, substantially as set forth.

2. In a navigational sounding apparatus, the'combination of a frame, a cable reelk mounted therein having a cable groove and relatively widely extended peripheral friction surfaces at the sides of the groove, a brake block extending across the cable groove and having shoes arranged to re- V*Copies ofthis patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

